William (Bill) Krebs
Very sad when I learned of Bill's passing three years ago. He was a good friend that I communicated with through the years beginning when we were in the AC-130 gunship program together starting in July 1968 at Lockbourne AFB Columbus, Ohio and then to Ubon AB in Thailand flying the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. He was an exceptional pilot who was very disciplined and calm under pressure. On such mission in March 1969 his airplane was struck by a 37mm shell in the tail severing the cables to the vertical stabilizer and elevator. Bill was able to fly the airplane back to Ubon using only ailerons and power. He had everyone bailout except for the copilot, Maj Piehl and the Flight Engineer. Later he was on the Air Force board that evaluated all AF captains coming up for Major and approved my selection. He was respected and liked by everyone {officers and enlisted} who served with him. As an additional duty in Ubon he was handpicked by the 8th TFW Commander Colonel Chuck Pattillo to be the Gunship Maintenance Officer because of the major problem we were having keeping the airplanes flyable. Bill's leadership led us to have over 100 in a role on time departures which was thought to be impossible when we were lucky to have 10 prior to his taking the position as the Maintenance chief.
He was a true inspiration. We both loved our Ranier beer and tried to dissuade anyone to not move to the great State of Washington. I thoroughly enjoyed my 53 years of friendship with him.
Col (ret) Bill Krebs
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